$1.8 million to the Bank of Bermuda over a property deal that went wrong.

Supreme Court made the judgment against Mr. Southworth in March, but a case against co-defendants Mr. David Dodwell, the Bermuda Hotel Association president, little-known Mr. Lee Koehler and a company called Malvern Properties has not been heard.

Details of the lawsuit were thin on the ground yesterday with none of the parties prepared to release much information.

But it is believed the lawsuit concerns a property in Arizona that the defandants were involved with and which was mortgaged by the Bank of Bermuda.

Mr. Arthur Haycock, a senior vice president at the Bank of Bermuda, said: "It will be a while before everything's sorted out. I really can't comment further.'' Mr. Southworth, who managed Pompano Beach between 1981 and 1989, is currently living in the United States. He did not return a message to call The Royal Gazette which was left with his family.

Mr. Dodwell, proprietor of the The Reefs hotel, in Southampton, will not comment on the matter. Mr. Koehler could not be traced.